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By J. Miernik, D. Krupka, B. Ochab

The electrolytic zinc plant, with a capacity 75,000 tonnes per year, is part of Zaklady Gorniczo-Hutnicze BOLESLAW. It is the biggest zinc producer in Poland. The electrolytic zinc plant started up in 1955 with a capacity 15,000 tonnes per year, and multiplied its production by 5 till nowadays. At the beginning, the plant processed only calcine from zinc oxides (60% Zn, 3-4% Pb, 0,03 % Cd) which were produced from Waeltz fumes by calcination in a rotary kiln. Participation of calcine from zinc sulfide concentrates in the feed grew during the BOLESLAW plant expansion. Currently, only roasted sulphide concentrates, calcine from fluid-bed roasters, is processed. This paper presents a general description of the ZGH BOLESLAW plant and discusses the processes of roasting, leaching, purification and electrolysis. Also shown are the chemical analyses of the various process materials.

Jan 1, 2000

By D. M. Jones

Dust generation data have been obtained from 19 industrial Outokumpu flash furnaces. Statistical analyses of the data have been carried out and the most significant factors affecting dust generation evaluated. The results indicate that dust production may most effectively be minimized by: 1) Minimizing the distance between the molten slag and the furnace roof 2) Optimizing burner design and combustion parameters.

Jan 1, 1996

By Chi-Ming Chang

Alloy powders are commonly used in the purification of zinc sulfate solutions for use in standard electrowinning practice. The primary goal of this research was to study the use of zinc-lead alloys for similar reactions in the galvanic stripping of impurities from organic solutions. The effects of various parameters on the electrochemical behavior of commercially produced zinc-lead alloy powders were determined. A qualitative evaluation and summary of the influence of the more pertinent parameters on iron removal from di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) by galvanic stripping is given. Water concentration, oxygen content and reaction temperature were the principal factors affecting the reaction rate and process efficiency. Activation energies were also calculated and indicated that the reaction changes from chemical to diffusion control .with increasing temperature in the range of 35" to 45°C. The results showed that zinc-lead alloy gave faster reaction rates with less sensitivity to process variables than SHG zinc as a reducing agent for galvanic stripping. The role of lead could be as cathodic sites for the reaction which enhances the zinc dissolution or anodic half reaction. The morphology of the zinc-lead alloy surfaces, before and after the reactions, supports this assumption.

Jan 1, 1998

By O. Chemezov, Yu Zaikov, A. Apisarov, A. Isakov

"Silicon deposits containing 99,9 wt.% of main component were obtained by SiO2 electrolysis from chloride-fluoride melts. The operating temperature was varied from 973 up to 1073 K. The conditions for obtaining crystalline fibrous micro- or nanodeposits were determined. The deposits were investigated by ESM methodIntroductionThere are large reserves of natural quartz of high purity in Russia. Processing of this raw material by electrolysis in molten salts produces silicon containing 99.9 weight percent of basic substance.[1]This method is less energy-consuming in comparison to existing methods for producing high purity silicon from gas phase.Another advantage of the electrolytic method for producing silicon from its oxide in molten salts is the possibility of production of high-purity silicon under air atmosphere. It dramatically reduces costs of the electrolytic cell construction, and the operating costs at electrolysis.On our opinion, the main advantage of the electrolytic production from SiO2 in molten salts is a unique opportunity to obtain micro-and nanostructures of silicon deposits. In particular, it is possible to obtain fibrous structures of silicon. The electrolytic method allows smoothly adjusting the thickness and length of silicon micro- and nano-wires by varying the cathode current density and temperature of the process."

Jan 1, 2012

By Wenshan Zhang

The industrial production experiments on Zn, Mn simultaneous leaching, impurity removal and ZnMnO2 simultaneous electrolysis were carried out. The process flow, technical requirement and research results about the experiments were discussed and the good technical quail-fixation and high quality of products were obtained. Reactions for each major technological process have been expatiated based on the thermodynamic analysis.

Jan 1, 2006

By Qingbo Yu, Qin Qin, Junxiang Liu

"Dry-granulation is a new process of molten blast furnace slag treatment and air is used as heat exchange medium. There are some shortages: poor effectiveness of granulation, high air-slag ratio and high energy consumption, which are the obstacles to popularize dry-granulation. Based on rotary cup atomization, the technique of recovering waste heat of molten blast furnace slag through waste heat boiler producing high pressure steam is exploited. The molten blast furnace slag is granulated to uniform small slag granules with high temperature, and slag granules pour into the waste heat boiler. It could produce steam, obtained in first row and second row tubes, when descending velocity of slag granules equaled 1.1mm/s and the Reynolds number equaled 7100. The application of the system for recovering waste heat from high temperature molten blast furnace slag has a significant meaning.IntroductionBlast furnace slag is one kind of solid waste in iron making process, which is discharged at the temperature range from 1723 to 1923K. In China, there was 0.162 billion tons of slag discharged in 2009, and the energy contained in the slag is equivalent to the energy in 9.4 million tons of coal equivalent. The sensible heat of molten slag is a very valuable waste heat source, so it is worthwhile to recover the sensible heat. At present, the molten slag is treated by a water quenching method. But in this process, the sensible heat is not recovered, moreover, an amount of water is consumed and harmful waste gas is discharged into the environment. Due to the considerations of energy conversation and environmental protection, the iron making industry pays close attention to dry-granulation, which is useful to obtain more benefits [1-4]. The sensible heat is recovered and an amount of water is saved by the method of dry-granulation. The amorphous content of slag granules obtained from dry-granulation is over 95% [5, 6], so the slag granules can be used as a perfect raw material for cement [7, 8].In the late 1970s, the Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. and the Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Ltd. jointly undertook the research of rotary drum granulation. This method has several disadvantages: the processing capacity and efficiency are low, and it is not adoptive to operate continuously in production [9]. From 1980, Nippon Steel, NKK, Kawasaki Steel, Kobe Steel, Sumitomo Metal Industries and Nisshin Steel were engaged on air granulation, and the experiments were operated for 6 years on the blast furnace in Nippon Steel. In the process of air granulation, there was great power consumption. The complexity of structure and the great floor space of the air granulation device caused high cost of investment. In 1986, Ukraine exploited a new method of heat recovery referring to the technology of Continuous Casting and Rolling [10]."

Jan 1, 2011

By John Wallace, Chib Iheagwara

"Refinements in sensor design have produced low-cost rugged elements to act as loop coupled with stable detection hardware for eddy current measurement in difficult environments. This has allowed direct dimension gauging of nonferrous and ferrous products above the curie point for absolute dimensions and electrical conductivities independently. The software was developed for the analysis of electrical conductivity profiles in CZ silicon crystal growth, then refined for monitoring bar properties and tube properties. Since in most metal working operations, speeds at the minimum of a few hundred feet per minute are encountered the design of the gauge was optimized for a rapid measurement. Independently extracting electrical conductivity provides data in some metal systems for determining the temperature of the monitored product.IntroductionThe primary reason for the use of eddy currents in gauging is that in hostile environments of metal working techniques such as laser gauging and ultrasonics are not always robust enough for in process measurements. Our goal is to use the technique of eddy current measurement as a quantitative control element in various hot and cold processing operations. Inspection in the early stages of metal and semiconductor processing is usually too costly to introduce in a well developed process and these tools are usually only employed in process development. Until recently there has been no efficient general analysis to allow real time measurements in the cylindrical and the probe geometry that could separate dimensional changes from material property changes both which effect the eddy current response. The basis for these measurements is that forward electromagnetic problem for conductors can be solved exactly for the test geometry which allows an inverse analysis to be made by relaxing the dimensions and conductivity to values which reproduce the measured response[!]. This transformation is based on analysis developed in Robert Siegfried' s thesis and was explored both by modeling and by physical measurement. This analysis was extended over the last few years to allow a more compact data set to be used to exact physical properties. The main result was that the technique would work on high ·quality physical data on as little as three test frequencies with the penalty being that the analysis is computational intensive. The main result of this work was that a quantitative inverse analysis of eddy current response would allow a general instrument to be used for a variety of measurements rather than being tailored for a specific measurement on a specific material test geometry. The development of these instruments has progressed over the last ten years for monitoring real time solidification, crystal growth[2] and hot seamless tube forming where the use of standards in traditional eddy current is limiting. The specific instrument design was dictated by the requirements of the algorithm for both frequency selection and levels of systematic noise that could be tolerated. Because the data is need for real time information this dictated that the system be a parallel multifrequency eddy current instrument feeding the same sensor. The sensor have to be simple and robust and usually a single loop or several loop of heat resistant wire or tube. This presentation is about using inversion of multifrequency eddy current data in real time to produce dimensional and property data on cylindrical conductors and planar conductors in real time. The object of the measurements is to produce dimensional outputs on measurements of conducting material without having to establish a detailed standard for each material or size tested. The dimensional measurements using eddy currents is complicated by material variations in conductivity due to temperature and composition. Those variations that are not geometric are often not of critical interest and complicate the measurement. The dimensional changes are often of more importance"

Jan 1, 1997

Korea has about 68 hundreds million tons of limestone's reserves. Still, high-Ca2+ limestone containing more than 52% calcium oxide makes up for about 12% only; hence the need for securing and effectively developing limestone. The best solution is to manufacture precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC). The synthesis of PCC using high-Ca2+ limestone has several advantages including the efficient development of resources and easing the import dependence on PCC. The first step is the selection of suitable limestone for the synthesis of PCC. In this study, formation age was decided as the primary key point, with its effect on calcination, hydration, and synthesis of aragonite investigated. Results showed that the yield of aragonite increased when newer limestone was used. On the other hand, neither the activity and bulk density of quicklime nor the particle size of aragonite was affected by the formation age, although special values were registered following each formation age. Moreover, the bulk density of quicklime and particle size of aragonite tended to increase with decreasing activity. This result is different from that of the other experiment. Therefore, a suitable method for measuring the activity of quicklime for use in the manufacture of PCC must be established.

Jan 1, 2006

By Jeaneth S. Benedetto

The physical and chemical processes developed for recovery of uranium and phosphor from phosphoro-uraniferous ore bodies consists of three basic steps: concentration of the phosphate bearing uranium by flotation, chemical dissolution of the concentrate by wet phosphoric acid and extraction of uranium by solvent. In this process two products are obtained: 1) uranium and 2) phosphoric acid. The purpose of this work was to develop technological know-how of phosphoric acid purification though an extraction of P2O5 by solvents. It was investigated by two lines of research. In the first one the uranium was extracted before the phosphoric acid purification. In the second, the phosphoric acid was extracted before uranium recovery. The comparison of the two processes is shown in this paper. Experimental work was developed on a laboratory scale to select and optimize the process variables. After the laboratory study, the research of extraction and stripping was continued on a pilot scale in pulsed perforated-plate columns in order to investigate the main operational and process conditions. The first phosphoric acid extraction experiments showed good results using a raffinate sample obtained from the uranium extraction process. It was possible to obtain a high purity phosphoric acid.

Jan 1, 2003

By Renaud Metz

The DOPA process (Direct Oxidation of a Precursor Alloy) was used to prepare ceramic powders based on doped SnO2 and ZnO. The DOPA process consists essentially in the direct oxidation of a homogeneous precursor alloy. A unique advantage of this process is its rather benign environmental impact since no dangerous reactants are used and no harmful by-products are generated. Only oxygen and the alloy metals participate on the chemical reaction to produce the multi-component oxide. Homogeneous alloys of niobium, cobalt and chromium doped tin have been prepared. The molten metal alloy is atomised in air using a double fluid nozzle to produce metallic powders. A subsequent thermal treatment is carried out to fully oxidise the sprayed metal alloy powders. These raw powders are used to prepare a ceramic powder through a mill homogenisation and atomisation process. The ceramic powder is then uniaxially compacted in disc shape and sintered in an oxidising atmosphere. The resulting sintered bodies are metallised on their flat faces and the cylindrical surface is passivated using lead free glass enamel. These ceramics present excellent semiconducting properties with non-linear (non-ohmic) characteristics. The DOPA process is found to be an attractive procedure to obtain ceramic powders for the preparation of SnO2 varistors.

Jan 1, 2006

By Richard A. Shulkosky

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AlSO, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) jointly funded the development of a mechanical properties model for Hot Strip Mills. INTEG process group, inc. validated an enhanced version of the model under a project funded by the AlSI/DOE Technology Roadmap Program (fRP). The Hot Strip Mill Model (HSMM) version 6.0 allows users to easily set-up their mill configuration, simulate a rolling mill schedule and calibrate the model for a variety of grades of steel. Starting from reheat furnace drop out, the model simulates roughing mill stands (reversing and continuous), heat retention equipment (coil box and covers), finishing mill stands (tandem and Steckel mills), the run out table and the mill exit area. The HSMM uses a series of physical models to calculate both the thermo-mechanical and the microstructure evolution of steel being processed in a hot mill to predict its final mechanical properties. The enhanced HSMM was validated using a multitude of samples from several steel companies. Excellent agreement was obtained for tensile strength. The supporting steel companies have utilized the model for a variety of practical applications. Keywords: Process Modeling, Microstructure Evolution, Mechanical Properties

Jan 1, 2003

By M. Fafard, R. Ahmed, O. Dion-Martin

"The optimization of aluminum sheet and tube forming needs the use of large strain finite elements software. The precision of the predicted results from those simulations depends mainly on the quality of constitutive law of the material used. In order to improve quality of these simulations, Barlat has suggested a new yield function named YLD2000-2d. This criterion describes the anisotropic behavior of the rolled aluminum plates. This work consists of characterizing the AA5754 alloy and estimating the material parameters needed for the YLD2000-2d criterion in LS-DYNA. In order to get these parameters, various mechanical testing were performed such as bulge and tensile tests. Moreover, the bulge test was also used to obtain an estimation of work hardening curve in large strain condition, up to 50%. The objective of this paper is to share the experimental results of the characterization of AA5754 aluminum alloy.IntroductionResearchers from National Research Council Canada's Aluminium Technology Center (NRCATC) and Aluminium Research Centre - REGAL, are working on aluminium tube hydroforming processes of AA-5754-0 alloy, used in automotive industries. Hydroforming process presents several difficulties such as wall thinning and section changes. In order to control them, some parameters can be set during the process like pressure rate and end feed level [1]. Given the complexity of the parts and the variability of the control parameters, the use of finite element method (FEA), like LS-DYNA, based on large strain theory is thus necessary. The accuracy of predicted results depends mainly on the quality of the constitutive law used to model the behavior of material. FEA results seem to be valid with the von Mises yield criterion used in some cases. But, given the anisotropic properties of the AA-5754 alloy, a more appropriate criterion could be used. The *MAT_ BARLAT YLD2000 shell material criterion, developed by Barlat [2], who's taking into account the anisotropic behaviour, was chosen due to its large flexibility and its good adaptation to particular elastoplastic behavior of aluminum. However, the use of this criterion needs to determine some material parameters by experimental way."

Jan 1, 2013

By A. G. Jackson, Mark D. Benedict, Steven R. LeClair, Yang Cao, David M. Conrad

"Electronic Prototyping (EP) represents a new and powerful medium that many in science and technology view as the research paradigm of the future. Actually, EP has many handles, sometimes referred to as simulation-based design involving more long term objectives such as virtual reality, but regardless of the 'spin', the direction of EP is an enhanced visual paradigm to enable a new set of tools for engineers and scientists alike. Tools to not only automate, visualize and compute otherwise intractable problems but to enable augmentations of our ability to perceive that which is interesting and new -""a virtual version of a process"" [1] prodding us on the pathways of materials and process discovery.IntroductionActually there are many reasons to apply sensors to materials, such as smart or adaptive materials/structures, and new materials synthesis/processing [1], only some of which are motivated by improved product quality and/or productivity. Although U.S. Air Force applications of sensors to materials processing represent but one of many perspectives, hopefully it is a perspective which will engender new ideas and insights in addressing future challenges in materials research. To provide context and establish need for future sensor applications in materials processing, we will utilize on one of several Air Force vistas or '21st-Century' objectives."

Jan 1, 1997

The copper concentrate market is becoming increasingly unstable. In the early 1990s large concentrate stocks were built up and the glut was cleared only after treatment charges rose so sharply that 'non-traditional' custom smelter capacity, such as in Kazakhstan, could be employed, By 1994 the market had shifted and Western smelters were unable to secure enough concentrates to operate full out. The reason for these sharp swings in the market balance is that virtllally all the recent mine development has been non-integrated. With different companies developing new mine . and smelter capacity, it is inevitable that the pace of expansion in the two sectors will not be coordinated. For many years the Japanese smelters were the major buyers from the new mm-integrated mines. However, Japanese smelter capacity is unlikely to increase appreciably in the future and this stabilizing influence will be very difficult to replace. This paper will examine the likely concentrate/smelter balance over the next five years and will forecast the likely direction of? treatment charges. It will also touch on the critical variables in assessing the viability of new greenfield custom smelter capacity, such as proximity to concentrate sources, by-product sulfuric acid prices and, most importantly, tariff protection.

Jan 1, 1995

By Qinmeng Wang

The oxygen bottom blown copper smelting process is a new technology which has been widely applied to the copper production in China. In this work, a computational thermodynamics model for this technology has been established, based on smelting mechanism and theory of Gibbs free energy minimization. The calculated results from the model agree well with the actual industrial data, indicating that the model can be used for the predictions under different operating conditions. The tendencies of the key parameters (such as Cu losses and Fe3O4 content in slag) and the distribution ratios of the minor elements (such as Pb, Zn, As, Sb and Bi) can be predicted by adjusting the oxygen/ore ratio charged into the bottom blown copper smelting furnace. The model can be used to monitor and optimize the industrial operations of the oxygen bottom blown copper smelting process.

By Jan Petter Maehlen

Solid H-absorbing materials are in focus of ongoing R&D to offer viable solutions for the hydrogen storage and supply systems aimed on use of hydrogen as energy carrier for automotive transportation. Low operating pressures, combined with high gravimetric and volumetric efficiencies, together with fast kinetics of hydrogen release at ambient temperatures (providing conditions for a low energy loss due to decomposition), are the most important features of the ?ideal? H storage material. Hydrides of the light elements are the only possible candidates to build systems with an overall efficiency similar to those accommodating liquid or compressed (700 bar) hydrogen. One promising material from this point of view is aluminium trihydride, alane AlH3 with a gravimetric storage capacity of 10 wt.% H. This work was focused on studies of the crystal structure and thermal decomposition of alane by application of powder synchrotron X-Ray diffraction.

Jan 1, 2006

By G. Djambazov, V. Bojarevics, K. Pericleous

The AC electromagnetic (EM) field effects are investigated for the possibility to extract particles (impurities, precipitates, oxides, bubbles, etc.) from molten silicon during the directional solidification of silicon ingot. The dynamics of particles are affected by the hydrodynamic drag, buoyancy, turbulent fluctuations and the EM force via the local pressure distribution. The EM force leads to high mixing rates, transitional flow structures and turbulence of the melt, contributing to the particle dispersion, transport and separation to a desired location. Application to silicon kerf loss recycling by melting and solidifying in the presence of AC EM field is presented for a variety of cases using 3D models for general flow structure and axisymmetric models for moving solidification front long time tracking. This paper demonstrates the effects of flow on the time dependent particle ‘swarm’ transport and the eventual modified distribution in the final ingot.

Mar 1, 2017

By J. L. Jambor

Sulfide-rich tailings accumulated in a 4l-hectare impoundment at the Waite Amulet minesite near Noranda, Quebec, have undergone partial oxidation and destruction of the principal sulfides (pyrite and pyrrhotite) in the vadose zone. Mineralogical studies and whole-rock chemical analyses of 18 samples from 3 boreholes along a cross-section of the tailings pile indicate that the principal chemical manifestations of the alteration are a pronounced depletion in sulfide-sulfur, and an enrichment in total Fe as Fe203' Other elements such as Al, Mn, Mg, Ca, Na, and K in the solids show erratic or inconsistent variations, but a trend to Si enrichment in the oxidation zone is clear. The trend is interpreted to be a relative enrichment whereby the proportion of the stable silicate minerals has increased as a consequence of the consumption of pyrite and pyrrhotite in the oxide zone.

Jan 1, 1989

By D. Silva-Galvan, R. D. Morales, S. Gonzáelez-López, A. Romero-Serrano, G. Plascencia-Barrera, F. Chavez-Alcala

This work is focussed on lead decopperising by two techniques: conventional top addition of sulfur and injection of sulfur powder. It is found that the first method proceeds under equilibrium conditions and the second one depends on kinetic considerations. Experiments were carried out using 15 kg lead baths at two temperatures, 340°C and 380°C. The carrying gas used for the injection trials was nitrogen at flow rates of 6.3 and 18.6 L min- 1• The results show that 'decopperising process is more efficient at temperatures close to the melting point of lead for the sulfur top addition process, whereas high temperatures produce better copper removal for the injection of sulfur powder. Besides, the sulfur injection with the higher nitrogen flow rate (18.6 L min-1) produced higher decopperising rates. Thermodynamic and kinetic models are used to simulate this lead refining process.

Jan 1, 2000

By Shengqin Zhang, Yousef Mohassab, Feng Chen, Hong Yong Sohn, Mohamed Elzohiery, Amr Abdelghany

The kinetics of hematite concentrate reduction by mixtures of hydrogen and CO of various compositions has been investigated as part of the development of a flash ironmaking process at the University of Utah. This process produces iron directly from iron oxides concentrates by the gas-solid flash reaction based on the partial oxidation of natural gas, resulting in a significant reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission. The reduction kinetics of hematite concentrate of an average particle size 21.3 μm by the above mentioned gases in the temperature range 1423 to 1623 K (1150 to 1350 ºC) was investigated. Hematite concentrate particles can be reduced to > 90% by any of these reductants in several seconds of residence time typically available in a flash reactor. The activation energy ranged from 214 kJ/mol for hydrogen to 231 kJ/mol for CO.

Jan 1, 2016